The Recruit(s): Puppies’ First Visit to the Vet

Nicole jumping up on the receptionist counter

The Agency’s four new K9 recruits – Suni, Indigo, Freya, and Nicole – have their first veterinary exam since joining the CIA program with Dr. Buck Drummond at Old Dominion Animal Health Center. He specializes in the unique medical challenges of working dogs. Heide and Lulu, the other two CIA “Puppy Class” K9s, belong to Frederick County Fire Marshal and Fairfax County Police respectively and will have exams at their local vets.

Before classes begin, all Agency dogs go to the vet for a full health exam and any necessary vaccinations. Old Dominion is known regionally for its work with law enforcement and military K9s, including CIA’s K9 officers. They even started a program to help support retired military, CIA, and police K9s called Paws of Honor. Most K9 handlers – whether military, police, or CIA – keep their K9 partners once the dogs retire. Medical care for the dogs, however, is often no longer covered by the government. Programs like Paws of Honor help the handlers with veterinary expenses throughout the retired dog’s life.

Suni being looked over by Dr. Drummond

First up to see the vet is Suni, a whorl of wiggles and kisses, who leaps out of the CIA K9 van and greets every person, shrub, and butterfly she sees. It’s her nose, however, that most dictates her path. Darting from bushes to shoes to rocks to flowers to trees, Suni follows any curious scent she encounters in the parking lot, weaving a mysterious, seemingly haphazard pattern of puppy energy that only a dog can discern. The same thing happens once she bounds into the lobby of the veterinary clinic, jumping from sniffing rugs and chairs legs and shelves of specialty dog treats, to leaping into the arms of the kneeling veterinarian, Dr. Drummond. A gaggle of puppy kisses greets her new best friend, and then she’s off again tracking another unknown scent.

Other than allergies causing her eyes to water and some gunk that has to be cleaned from her ears, Suni is declared healthy and ready for class. She receives the remainder of her yearly vaccines and is sent home with some medication to help with her watery eyes and dirty ears. She bounces out of the veterinary clinic as wiggly and affectionately as she bounded in.

Indigo burrowing into Andy's arms

Next up is Indigo, who tries to leap from the exam table, and when that is unsuccessful, buries her head into the crook of K9 instructor Andy’s arm until her vet exam is done. Leaving the clinic, Indigo springs up onto the receptionist counter, front feet only, begging for rubs and treats. Instead of being admonished as impolite, she’s rewarded and encouraged to do it a second time! Our trainers actually like this behavior because she’ll need to be comfortable getting onto all kinds of different surfaces—like chairs, tables, or truck beds—in her line of work (of course, under the careful guidance of her handler). Even a trip to the vet provides a good learning opportunity for the new pups.

Freya on exam table

Freya, who would much rather ride shotgun in the passenger seat than in the state-of-the-art K9 van kennels, shows her spunk as soon as she enters the lobby of the vet clinic. Greeted by Dr. Drummond, she immediately assumes the puppy play position (paws and head low to the floor, rear-end raised high) and starts roughhousing with her new friend. Her big paws tap-dance across the linoleum floors in a chaotic beat as she tries to entice the vet and Andy to play with her. Once her exam starts, Freya stands quietly and lets Dr. Drummond look her over and administer her vaccines, but the expression on her face makes sure everyone knew how she feels about it.

Nicole is the calmest puppy of the bunch, happy and sweet and beaming with joy as she makes her rounds saying hi to the clinic staff. She is very polite for her exam, sensitive to whatever Andy or Dr. Drummond ask of her. Like Suni, Nicole also has slight allergies, which the vet treats, and then he examines her paws.

Nicole being comforted by Andy

The vet finds two small bumps, most likely Sebaceous cysts, between her second and third toes on each front foot. They don’t seem to bother her, but of course, as with any Agency dog, she’ll have a full workup done to be sure she’s healthy and that the cysts don’t need to be removed. Dr. Drummond takes extra blood to run additional tests out of an abundance of caution, and the K9 training staff should receive her results shortly.

All of the pups receive clean bills of health, although none are thrilled about having their ears cleaned or receiving their inoculations.

What’s Next?

The pups are now ready for their first week of classes, where they’ll learn what it means to “seek” and how to detect their first explosive odors.

If you miss any of the articles in this series, visit “Follow CIA’s New Puppy Class!” main page, where we are chronicling the puppies’ progresses throughout their training.

* Required plugins

Footer Navigation

Contact CIA

The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) is the single point of contact for all inquiries about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

We read every letter, fax, or e-mail we receive, and we will convey your comments to CIA officials outside OPA as appropriate. However, with limited staff and resources, we simply cannot respond to all who write to us.

Please check our site map, search feature, or our site navigation on the left to locate the information you seek. We do not routinely respond to questions for which answers are found within this Web site.

Employment: We do not routinely answer questions about employment beyond the information on this Web site, and we do not routinely answer inquiries about the status of job applications. Recruiting will contact applicants within 45 days if their qualifications meet our needs.

Because of safety concerns for the prospective applicant, as well as security and communication issues, the CIA Recruitment Center does not accept resumes, nor can we return phone calls, e-mails or other forms of communication, from US citizens living outside of the US. When you return permanently to the US (not on vacation or leave), please visit the CIA Careers page and apply online for the position of interest.

Solicitations to transfer large sums of money to your bank account: If you receive a solicitation to transfer a large amount of money from an African nation to your bank account in exchange for a payment of millions of dollars, go to the US Secret Service Web site for information about the Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud or "4-1-9" Fraud scheme.

If you have information which you believe might be of interest to the CIA in pursuit of the CIA's foreign intelligence mission, you may use our e-mail form. We will carefully protect all information you provide, including your identity. The CIA, as a foreign intelligence agency, does not engage in US domestic law enforcement.

If you have information relating to Iraq which you believe might be of interest to the US Government, please contact us through the Iraqi Rewards Program —

Contact CIA

Contact Us Form

Message:*

Email:*

Name:

Phone Number:

Mobile/Cell:

* = required

Contact CIA

Report Threats

The United States and its partners continue to face a
growing number of global threats and challenges. The CIA’s mission
includes collecting and analyzing information about high priority
national security issues such as international terrorism, the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber attacks,
international organized crime and narcotics trafficking, regional
conflicts, counterintelligence threats, and the effects of environmental
and natural disasters.

These challenges are international in scope and are priorities for
the Central Intelligence Agency. If you have information about these or
other national security challenges, please provide it through our secure
online form. The information you provide will be protected and
confidential. The CIA is particularly interested in information about
imminent or planned terrorist attacks. In cases where an imminent
threat exists, immediately contact your local law enforcement agencies
and provide them with the threat information.